Sunday, May 23, 2010

Royal Gorge Bridge and Park

We spent a fantastic day at the Royal Gorge Bridge Park, which is just west of Canon City, Colorado.  The RV campground we are in is a mere 1/2 mile to the turn off for the park.   When we checked in at Fort Gorge RV Park the manager had a coupon for discount on admission.  Admission charged was $19.95 each with the coupon price.

The Royal Gorge Bridge was built in 1929 and rises almost 1,100 feet above the Arkansas River below.  It is reported to be the world's highest suspension bridge.  After admission you have a choice to either drive your car or walk across the bridge to enjoy a panoramic view that is breathtaking.


You can see red granite cliffs that seem to drop right down onto the river.  The bridge towers are 150 feet high and the length of the bridge is 1,270 feet (384 meters).  We decided to walk across the bridge which was interesting. Cars can slowly cross the bridge while the pedestrians are on it and you can feel the heavy wooden planks shaking with the movement of the car.  The wind was blowing hard and you needed to hang onto your hat.  It was cold up there, too.  Looking below you can see the rapids of the Arkansas River and a river rafting group float by.    (click on photos for a larger view)



Once we got to the other side of the bridge we climbed a steep path to an observation deck.  From here we could see the best side view of this amazing structure.  You can see a car driving across.  For an additonal fee you can buy a trip across the gorge on the aerial tram.  This is the world's longest single-span aerial tram at 2,200 feet.  I took a photo of the cables stretching across the gorge. We passed on the tram....too scary.  The winds weren't strong enough to keep it from operating today. 



We did take the Incline Railway trip down to the bottom of the Royal Gorge.  This was included with price of admission.  The trip takes you down 1,550 feet at a 100% grade.  You are at a 45-degree angle.  You stand inside these little cage like cars for the 5 minute trip down.  Once at the bottom you could look up and see the suspension bridge high above you.  We waited to see some more river rafters come by.   We got to see a guy in his kayak making his way through the rapids, too.



Up we go back to the top of the gorge using the Incline Railway....

This was an awesome day and we are so happy to have had the opportunity to see the Royal Gorge.  Tomorrow we have a couple of things planned over in Canon City and then Tuesday morning we leave here to drive to Gunnison.

NOTE:  parts of this park are handicapped accessible and some are not


I hope everyone has enjoyed the weekend.
Until next time....so long for now!

15 comments:

Sam&Donna Weibel said...

What an exciting day, your pictures are great and let us live the experience with you.Thanks for sharing Margie & .Bruce Be safe out there. San & Donna...

Gypsy said...

You DIDN'T walk across that bridge!

Along the Way with JnK said...

Wow...after reading the description of your time there, we are definitely putting it on our list to do. Thanks for sharing!

Rick said...

Terrific pictures. Thanks for the tour, it sure looks like a great place to visit. Looks to be a pretty popular river for rafting etc. as well.

Carol K said...

What a fantastic place to visit! Glad you got to see it. Enjoy Colorado!

Karyn-Lee said...

Hi Margie, was the cost of that site $19.99 a night or each person?
Was the cost of going over the bridge included in this fee?

I will bookmark this one too, it looks like alot of fun!
(and a wee bit scary!)

Thanks for sharing!

diana said...

Oh my gosh this is beautiful!!! I will add it to my list. Thanks for a excellent post!

Margie M. said...

A couple of replies:

YES Gypsy, we did walk across the bridge...twice! We walked over and then walked back. Driving was for sissies!!! LOL

Wild Blue...yes, the charge was $19.95 per adult (kid prices were a little less). Regular price was something like $22.95, but our RV park had the discount coupon. That admission fee allowed you to do everything except the carousel, the scenic train ride, and the aerial tram. The Incline Railway we took was included with the admission.

Hope these answers help!

Al Bossence said...

Looks like a great place for sure. I would like to give that tram a go too. Great photo opportunities from that height.

Ali Workentin said...

Thanks for sharing. What a beautiful place to visit. I think I could handle walking across the bridge but don't know about that Tram ride. That looked a little scary to me.

You take beautiful pictures. I wish I knew more about taking pictures...maybe that is something I can learn along the way.

Take care and enjoy the rest of your trip. Tomorrow we drive through your stomping grounds on our way to Portland. We will be there for 3 weeks for the Rose Festival.

Dinahsoar said...

I, husband and our children visited Royal Gorge in 1975. Would love to revisit it. Is it near The Garden of the God? We went there too. We were on a camping excursion with a church group on our way to Leadville Colorado for a Baptist Convention. Leadville was a neat old town--highest unincorporated, or maybe it was incorporated, city in the U.S. Have some wonderful memories of it all--though it was my first camping experience--that is a whole other story. I'd do much better today camping than I did back then. Love seeing the places you visit.

Karen and Al said...

You are very brave! I remember that bridge from when I was 6 years old and was terrified as we drove across! I think my Mom and I got down on the floor of the car!

We'll definitely put it on our list of places to see and hopefully I will be a little braver next time!

Jerry and Suzy said...

All we can say is WOW. You are having a fantasic, wonderful tour, and showing us places we have never seen, may never see, but we hope to see! Yay! And thanks for mentioning handicap accessible. Suzy could drive her little red scooter (named "Big Red") across that bridge!

KarenInTheWoods said...

What a cool place! I think I would like the tram ride, and really get some good shots from there. Thanks for sharing!

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(Our Blog) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
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JODI said...

I am really enjoying your blog (that I accidently happened upon) entries as we just returned from a trip yesterday in the same area. Looking at those rafters...my 15 year old daughter bounced right out of the raft into a Class V rapid on the gorge, talk about a spooky 40 seconds.